To Set At Ease
by YenShenMoon
Summary: Even though she didn't realize at first, Katara knew her brother would always be there to comfort her in her time of need Sokka/Katara Aang/Katara


**To Set At Ease**

**By: YenShenMoon**

"Are you ready to go?"

The sudden voice brought her out of her thoughts and caused her to turn towards the archway. He slowly entered the doorway and stood erect, revealing his formal attire for this evening. He was currently adorned in a faded yellow poncho with a brown throw back waist length cape that rested in overlapping layers that eventually rounded around his shoulder to lap around his side, connecting with a deep burgundy sash that rested at lower his abdomen and dangled to about knee length. She had to admit he looked rather handsome in them, as they accentuated his newly acquired form.

She quickly shook herself out of her trance like state and nodded. Katara slowly walked over towards where he stood, effectively noticing his eyes glancing up and down her figure.

"You look beautiful."

She could feel a familiar hear rising into her cheeks as he smiled affectionately at her, but she was to flustered to say anything back to him at the moment.

_'What's wrong with me_?' She thought silently to herself, to indulged to notice that he held out his forearm in effort for her to grasp it.

"Katara."

For the second time this evening, she was brought from her thoughts by his voice. She looked up at him, his eyes holding a hint of concern at her idle stature.

"Are you okay?"was his question,but all she could offer was a soft shake of the head.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly." I guess I'm just a little nervous is all."

She casted her eyesight sideways but it was soon drawn back towards his own when he placed a reassuring hand on her lower back.

"Don't be," he told her." I'm right beside you if you need anything, okay?"

Upon hearing this, her anxiety was soon hushed, but she had a sure feeling that some still remained underneath her seemingly calm stature, but she nodded once more nonetheless.

He gave another encouraging smile, and raised his forearm once more, which she took gingerly, and sighed. The two proceeded to gradually make it towards the red drapings that stood in front of the giant doorway and stopped shortly in front of it. Her head lowered as she let a shaky breath, only to be quieted by his squeezing of her palm. Soon enough the drapings were parted, revealing a crowd of nearly a thousand eagerly waiting for the arrival of the two betrothed to come forth.

There were various gasps and mumbling amount the citizens, which did nothing to soothe her worries but she paid no heed to them. The reverberation of the traditional conch sounded from afar, signaling to beginning of the ceremony, which only caused her echoing heart to beat that much faster, as she inhaled deeply.

The two proceeded to walk forth upon the elongated red carpet, she easily feeling the lingering stares of the citizens, but they eventually passed leaving her slightly relieved. Truthfully she had absolutely not the slightest idea of why she was acting as such, a nervous reck when usually she was composed and calm, but at times such as these, when she could feel and see the tension that swarmed within the blistering heat of the Fire Nation, she had lost all mind. Sweeping her eyes through the crowd, she rested them upon the unreadable face of her older brother, as he looked at her with seemingly questioning eyes. His sudden stare caused her to drift away again, to remember the conversation that she had with him a few weeks ago.

It had been an hectic evening for the Fire Nation palace as well as it's occupants, for it had just hushed its previous festive events and gradually succumbed to the depths of night. The gaang, or what remained of them, currently occupied the lounging area of the palace, still calming down from the small get together they had thrown.

* * *

><p>"Well I guess that's it for me for the rest of the night," the young Fire lord proclaimed, rising from his seating upon the couch." The council scheduled a meeting for tomorrow, and I don't feel they'd be to happy if I didn't show up again."<p>

Toph shook her head. Making a 'tsk' sound with her teeth as she did.

"Still playing hookie with your girlfriend, princess?"

Zuko shot a glare at the earthbender but soon realized that it rendered useless against her, and and Aang chuckled at this from nearby, as the airbender soon arose after Zuko, stretching subtly as he did.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night too."

he turned to face Katara to place a chaste kiss upon her cheek as she smiled.

"Oogies."

The two faced Sokka, who sat near them and glared.

"Don't you think your getting to old for that Sokka?"Katara question irrataitedly

The warrior shrugged."old habits die hard."

The waterbender rolled her eyes at her brother and averted her gaze back towards Aang.

"I'll be up in a few minutes."

Placing her hand upon his shoulder she leaned upwards to kiss him shortly on the lips before retracting. She watched him until he soon disappeared from sight and arose to walk onto the open terrace behind where she sat.  
>She slowly approached the railing of the terrace and once there, she gripped the railing and heaved.<br>_  
>"What am I doing?"<em>she inquired softly to herself, briefly closing her eyes.

"Talking to yourself again."

The waterbender quickly swiveled on her heel at the sudden voice, only to see Sokka leaning upon the stone archway with crossed arms.

Her eyes narrowed."Haven't you heard of knocking Sokka?"

"Okay for the second time you knock when going inside, not out. And secondly, since this is Zuko's palace, you don't get any privacy."

The waterbender frowned angrily at her brother and balled her hands into fists.

"Uh! You are so infuriating sometimes!"

Katara nettled away from the railing of terrace, and stomped past her brother, but a soft hand upon her shoulder hindered her. She looked up at her brother, her eyes still slanted, but Sokka only sighed.

"I'm sorry okay."

His voice was sincere enough to have her unravel from her irritation and look at him with raised eyebrows. Sokka dropped his hand from her shoulder.

"I just came out here to see if you were okay."

Katara eyed him with skepticism,but it soon faltered, for she saw no reason that he would lie. Her eyelids lowered as she walked back towards the railing with folded arms.

"I'm fine Sokka,"she said."I just came out here to think about some things."

The warrior scoffed softly as he shook his head.

"Your not really a good liar, Katara."

The waterbender glanced out her vision at her brother, and sighed at his perception, feeling that there was no reason to hide her distress.

Lowering her head slightly, she grasped at the railing.

"I don't know how to think properly anymore."the words came out with a slight huff.

She remained silent for a moment's notice, waiting for her brother to respond, but he said nothing. Looking upwards, she noticed that he adorned a look of perplexity.

"Is that why you've been acting so weird lately?"he asked.

Katara shook her head and casted her eyesight sideways.

"Aang proposed to me a few days ago."

Sokka made an 'o' motioning with his lips.

"Did you say yes?"

She looked at him briefly before nodding.

"So what's bothering you?"

The waterbender faced the railing, gripping the thin stone firmly, as she peered over the terrace with furrowing brows.

"I don't know if I should have."

She spoke of the words barely over a whisper, slightly ashamed that she had dwindled to this point. Sokka only stood behind her with a straight face at her confession. Katara was usually not the one to question herself upon any matter, and for to do it now, at a serious time such as this one was strange to him, but he didn't speak out on it and only chose to ask another.

"Do you love him?"

Katara quickly turned to face her brother with widened eyes.

"What does-"

"It's a simple question Katara." He stated firmly.

Her defense faltered as she rested her eyesight sideways. She then looked back at her brother.

"Yes. I always have."she said softly.

Sokka shrugged."So what's stopping you?"

Katara stood silent, wondering herself the same thing. What was stopping her? She had asked herself this question various times before, but hadn't really gotten any answers from it. It was a simple question, but she had one to many evasive ways to avoid it and that's what frustrated her as well as others. The play of Ember Island was a constant reminder of it. Even the thought of that awful day made her cringe inside. He was clearly distressed. That of course was obvious, but what he was distressed about never hit her until he finally confronted her about it.

When he asked her, she was surprised, to say the least, but she couldn't exactly say that she wasn't expecting it. The statement was met with hesitancy. She not knowing what to say at the moment. Upon her silence, he knew of what she thought, and it visible pained him, but he was suddenly filled with determination. A soft peck on the lips, he thought would sway her, but it backfired. She recoiled, rather forcefully, and placed her fingertips upon her lips, as if they had been burned. They were all to fast. Her swarming emotions, were pooling and her barrier was crumbling, but due to her strong nature, she refused to let it show. She instead replaced it with anger, and scolded him. His eyes blinked in perplexity, wondering desperately why she would not answer him, but he kept silent.

Tears were now forming within her eyes, as she placed her hand over her mouth. She had left him there. Confused, hurt and broken, and he deserved none of it. She had basically insulted his said love for her. Taking it and berating it infront of him, but till this day she had never apologized for such behavior, and she had never felt any more ashamed.

She gripped the thin railing of the terrace within the solid confines of her fingers. She felt her barrier gradually breaking again, but this time, her outer shield was not there to protect her.

"I never wanted this again."she told him with a shake of her head and through tear stained eyes."I can't handle this anymore."

Her barrier had finally diminished, not able to contain all the pain and rage that she felt at the time, but also because it was already so weakened by previous attempts on holding in such emotion, that there was simply no way of building upon a broken foundation.

"I can't love him."She steadied herself, her eyes shutting closed."I can't go through it again."

Sokka stood behind his sister. His expression never faltering from its still fix. He was slightly surprised, yes, but he could understand her. It was like the time he had lost his first love, Yue. He refused for himself to love another, due to being to afraid to repeat the past of losing a loved one, but he would not let his sister miss out on such a great opportunity. He refused to.

Sokka slowly walked towards the railing where his sister stood, just to stand beside her. His gaze traveled unto the darkened skies, which only bore the full moon to light the way. He soon sighed.

"I know you think I don't know what your feeling, and I know you think I don't care but,"Sokka paused before sighing once more. He turned to look at his sister."I do care. I care about you Katara, a lot, and I'm pretty sure Aang does to."

Katara could feel the salty tears cascade down her cheeks, pooling at the curve in her jaw, as she hugged herself. Sokka knew that even though she said nothing, he knew that she listened, and that's all he wanted, for her to hear him out.

Sokka's gaze traveled back towards the skies, the wind only blowing even harder than the last, whipping at their clothing.

"I know your scared and for a moment...I was too,"he told her,then looked sideways at her."but you can't allow yourself to be."

The two fell silent on short notice, before Sokka began to speak again.

"I know I might have said this before, but,"his gaze averted onwards."when I lost Yue at the North Pole, I shut down for a while. I became more alert and more protective because of her, but mostly..."he paused once more."I shut myself out for ever being able to feel anything,"Katara's eyebrows slightly rose upon this as Sokka turned to face her again." And that's what I think your doing."

Katara casted her gaze upon the stone platform below, her eyebrows furrowing, as the wind lapped at the loops of her hair.

"Your afraid to feel anything anymore, because of what happened to mom."

Katara visibly went rigid. Sokka knew he had hit a nerve when he spoke of their deceased mother, but he had to make her understand, so he continued.

"Ever since mom died, you've closed off you feelings to everyone around you. You hadn't really expressed yourself, but all that changed when we found Aang."

Sokka slightened his eyes.

"I've seen the way you look at him Katara,"his eyes traveled towards her form."and I know he looks at you the same way, but you can't shut him out."

Katara shook her head, feeling hot tears form at the rims of her eyes. Blinking back the salty liquid long enough to look up at him.

"I want to love him Sokka. I really do, but I can't go through life knowing that he might not come back to me."her eyes closed." I just can't."

Sokka stared down at his sister, fully aware of her plight. He could never fully understand her situation, because he had never fallen in love with the avatar before and he knew that being the lover of one would be difficult. Having to lie awake every night, wondering if they were okay. If they were alive and well, or if they died in battle, had to be one of the most traumatic experience a person could go through, but if you could go through it with the person you love most dearly, why would you let it hinder you?

Sokka thought of this thoroughly before speaking.

"Dad said that I had to protect you," he said calmly, but then his eyes hardened."And that also meant to protect you from yourself."

Katara remained silent, secretly hating the fact that all her brother's words were infact true.

"I know that you loved mom, and that when she died, it took a lot from you,but for you to shut down, and to keep all your feelings bottled up inside,isn't going to solve anything."

Katara slightly turned away. Deep down within her being, she knew that this was true, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Keeping her feelings bottled within herself seemed to be her specialty. Of course she shared things with Aang, but sometimes, she just didn't feel secure enough to tell him everything that was on her mind. Neither did she want to burden him with her problems either way.

Her tears slightly subsided, as she felt her being gradually being returned to normal.

"It's just that, for so long, I felt that if I were to love someone, I always feared that they'd be taken away from me..."she shrugged slightly."I never realized that by doing that, I would hurt him in the process."

Sokka shook his head as he placed a consoling hand upon her shoulder.

"It's not your fault,"Sokka reassured."I'm pretty sure anyone can understand what your going through right now."

Katara once again folded her arms across her chest and simply stood by him.

The two sat in silence. Only acknowledging the other's presence, as the wind blew softly through slim, cherry blossom trees, but soon the warrior turned to face her.

"Katara?"

She looked slightly upwards."hmm?"

"Promise me that we'll never have a conversation like this again."

Katara smiled for the first time that night and pushed her brother away playfully.

Sokka grinned as well, but was caught off guard when his sister suddenly embraced him, burying her head within the crook of his neck.

"Thank you."

Her words were soft, but it was still loud enough to reach his ears. Sokka soon relaxed under her light hold, and softly patted her back.

"Anytime."

* * *

><p>Katara smiled at the reminiscent. Her brother visibly brightening at her sudden change in demeanor as well. She was thankful that, even though sometimes they shared constant differences, her brother was there for her. He understood her, more than she expected he would, because she thought that he didn't care, but he did. She had learned this about him, and it truly surprised her. She could say that she had been ignorant about how he felt, she hadn't ever considered how he truly felt on the inside before, but he had been observant of her.<p>

She felt as if he knew her better than she knew herself. Like, when she had her barrier around her, he could see straight through it, because he knew how she felt. He had experienced the same emotions and had dealt with the same pain that she had and because of it, their bond had become stronger. She loved her brother, and she knew that he loved her. That was why he had cared enough to stop her from making the wrong decision and she was grateful that he had.

Now she walked askew to her soon to be husband, smiling happily as they advanced towards the alter, arm in arm. The sun was beginning to take It's toll below the horizon, filling the once blue skies, with a deep orange and reddish hue. Grinning slightly to herself, as they finally made it to the steps of the alter, stepping upon each slowly, as they came to stand in the direct center of the platform. The seated crowd arose respectfully to the betrothed, silence overcoming them, as she silently thought to herself, that things couldn't have been any more perfect.


End file.
